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MINERALMINERALMINERALMINERALMINERAL

RESOURRESOURRESOURRESOURRESOURCESCESCESCESCES

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MINERAL RESOURCESCHRONICLEIAS ACADEMYA CIVIL SERVICES CHRONICLE INITIATIVE

A naturally occurring substance that has adefinite chemical composition is a mineral.Minerals are not evenly distributed over space.They are concentrated in a particular area orrock formations. Minerals are formed in differenttypes of geological environments, under varyingconditions. They are created by natural processeswithout any human interference.

Mineral resources range from the soils thatsupport agriculture to metals such as silicon,which is used in high-technology applicationssuch as computers. Though technically notminerals, oil, natural gas, coal, and some othersources of energy are also included as mineralresources because they are extracted from Earth.Mining worldwide produces about $500 billionworth of metallic ore each year; another $700billion of energy minerals are produced.

Types of Minerals

There are over three thousand differentminerals. On the basis of composition, mineralsare classified mainly as metallic and non-metallicminerals.

Metallic Minerals: The metallic mineralscontain metal in raw form. Metals are hardsubstances that conduct heat and electricity andhave a characteristic luster or shine. Iron ore,bauxite, manganese ore are some examples.Metallic minerals may be ferrous or non-ferrous.

Ferrous Minerals: Ferrous minerals like ironore, manganese and chromites contain iron. Anon ferrous mineral does not contain iron butmay contain some other metal such as gold,silver, copper or lead.

Non-Metallic Minerals: The non-metallicminerals do not contain metals. Limestone, micaand gypsum are examples of such minerals. Themineral fuels like coal and petroleum are alsonon-metallic minerals.

Processes that form mineral deposits

The origin of most ore deposits is related tofundamental geologic processes. These are: (1)

igneous processes, (2) metamorphic processes,(3) sedimentary processes, and (4) weatheringand groundwater processes.

1. Igneous processes:

Many mineral resources are formed bymagmatic processes. Prime examples are theexotic ultramafic volcanic rocks that hostdiamonds. Diamond crystals were probablyripped from diamond-bearing wall rocks bymagma rising through the deep. Laboratoryexperiments show that diamond is stable atdepths of at least 150 to 200 km. At low pressure,the stable form of carbon is the soft mineralgraphite, but the reaction of diamond to formgraphite proceeds very slowly at the lowtemperatures found at Earth’s surface. Besidesits use as a gem, diamonds have found industrialuses as abrasives and as strong coatings.Diamond deposits are limited to regionsunderlain by Precambrian crust. The richestdeposits are found in South Africa and Australia.

Concentrations of other ores result, whenminerals forming in magma have differenttemperatures of crystallization and density.Some ores are formed when molten rock coolsto form igneous rock. This process forms buildingstone such as granite, a variety of gemstones,sulfur ore, and metallic ores, which involve densechromium or platinum minerals that sink to thebottom of liquid magma.

Further during fractional crystallization,water and elements that do not enter the mineralsseparated from the magma by crystallization willend up as the last residue of the original magma.This residue is rich in silica and water along withelements like the Rare Earth Elements (many ofwhich are important for making phosphors incolor television picture tubes), Lithium,Tantalum, Niobium, Boron, Beryllium, Gold, andUranium. This residue is often injected intofractures surrounding the igneous intrusion andcrystallizes as a rock called a pegmatite thatcharacteristically consists of large crystals.

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2. Metamorphic processes:

Metamorphism occurs deep in the earthunder very high temperature and pressure andproduces several building stones, includingmarble and slate, as well as some nonmetallicore, including asbestos, talc, and graphite.Metamorphism changes the texture andmineralogy of rocks and in the process can formimportant new mineral resources.

Further Hot hydrothermal fluids circulatingthrough the oceanic crust cause seafloormetamorphism. These fluids leach metals (suchas manganese, iron, copper, zinc, lead) andsulfur from the crust and transport theseelements to hot spring vents on the ocean floor.Minerals precipitate when the hydrothermalfluids mix with seawater and cool. Mounds ofsulfide ores collect on the seafloor where the hotwaters are released

3. Sedimentary Processes:

Sedimentary processes occur in rivers thatconcentrate sand and gravel (used inconstruction), as well as dense gold particles anddiamonds that weathered away from bedrock.These gold and diamond ore bodies are calledplacer deposits. Other sedimentary ore depositsinclude the deep ocean floor, which containsmanganese and cobalt ore deposits andevaporated lakes or seawater, which producehalite and a variety of other salts.

Examples:

• Evaporite Deposits-Evaporation of lakewater or sea water results in the loss ofwater and thus concentrates dissolvedsubstances in the remaining water. Whenthe water becomes saturated in suchdissolved substance they precipitate fromthe water. Deposits of halite (table salt),gypsum (used in plaster and wall board),borax (used in soap), and sylvite (potassiumchloride, from which potassium is extractedto use in fertilizers) result from this process.

• Iron Formations- These deposits are of ironrich chert and a number of other ironbearing minerals that were deposited inbasins within continental crust during theProterozoic (2 billion years or older). Theyappear to be evaporite type deposits, but ifso, the composition of sea water must havebeen drastically different than it is today.

• Placer Ore Deposits- substances areconcentrated by flowing surface waterseither in streams or along coastlines.

The velocity of flowing water determineswhether minerals are carried in suspension ordeposited. When the velocity of the water slows,large minerals or minerals with a higher densityare deposited. Heavy minerals like gold,diamond, and magnetite of the same size as alow density mineral like quartz will be depositedat a higher velocity than the quartz, thus theheavy minerals will be concentrated in areaswhere water current velocity is low. Mineraldeposits formed in this way are called placerdeposits. They occur in any area where currentvelocity is low, such as in point bar deposits,between ripple marks, behind submerged bars,or in holes on the bottom of a stream.

4. Hydrothermal Ore Deposits

Hydrothermal is the most common ore-forming process. It involves hot, salty water thatdissolves metallic elements from a large area andthen precipitates ore minerals in a smaller area,commonly along rock fractures and faults.Molten rock commonly provides the heat andthe water is from groundwater, the ocean, orthe magma itself. The ore minerals usuallycontain sulfide (S2-) bonded to metals such ascopper, lead, zinc, mercury, and silver. Activelyforming hydrothermal ore deposits occur atundersea mountain ranges, called oceanic ridges,where new ocean crust is produced. Here,mineral-rich waters up to 350°C sometimesdischarge from cracks in the crust and precipitatea variety of metallic sulfide minerals that makethe water appear black; they are called blacksmokers

Hydrothermal deposits are produced whengroundwater circulates to depth and heats upeither by coming near a hot igneous body atdepth or by circulating to great depth along thegeothermal gradient. Such hot water can dissolvevaluable substances throughout a large volumeof rock. As the hot water moves into cooler areasof the crust, the dissolved substances areprecipitated from the hot water solution. If thecooling takes place rapidly, such as might occurin open fractures or upon reaching a body ofcool surface water, then precipitation will takeplace over a limited area, resulting in aconcentration of the substance attaining a higher

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value than was originally present in the rocksthrough which the water passed.

5. Residual Ore Deposits

During chemical weathering and originalbody of rock is greatly reduced in volume by theprocess of leaching, which removes ions fromthe original rock. Elements that are not leachedform the rock thus occur in higher concentrationin the residual rock. The most important ore ofAluminum, bauxite, forms in tropical climateswhere high temperatures and high waterthroughput during chemical weatheringproduces highly leached lateritic soils rich in bothiron and aluminum. Most bauxite deposits arerelatively young because they form near thesurface of the Earth and are easily removed byerosion acting over long periods of time.

Mineral Survey

The important minerals of the world andtheir major producers along with India's positionare surveyed here.

IRON ORE :

One of the most widely distributed elementsof the earth's crust, iron rarely occurs in free state.

The finest ore is magnetite with nearly 70 percent iron content. These ore deposits are inigneous or metamorphic rocks. The banded typeis considered to be the most important due toextensive occurrence, easy amenability tobenefication by crushing and magneticseparation and agglomeration. Its colour rangesfrom dark brown to black. Sweden, Russia andLiberia have magnetite deposits. In India,deposits occur in Dharwar and Cuddapahsystems in the peninsula, in Karnataka(Kudremukh), Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Naduand Kerala.

The important iron ore deposits in Karnatakainclude the Kudremukh deposits where thepercentage of iron ore varies from 30 to 40. Otherdeposits in the state are Hariyur, Kunigal,Siddarhali, Shankaraguddu, Ubrani, Maddur-Malvalli, and Sargur in the Archi, Gangamulaand Gangrikal hill ranges.

The important deposits in Tamil Nadu areat Chettari, Belukkurrichi, Namagiri, Pan-chalais, Sittinglinge, Kanjamalai, Tirthamalai,and Mahadev hills in the Salem district, Kelur,Malnad and Devala and Nilgiri district are also

areas with ore deposits. The iron content isanything between 35 and 50 per cent.

In Andhra Pradesh, the Chityal,Dasturabad, Kalleda, Rabanpalli andAmberpeta deposits and those south of thecoalfields at Singreni have an iron contentranging from 35 to 45 per cent. Only 20 to 28per cent of iron is found in the Gopalpur, Utla,Tatrariyepalli, Kottagudem and Cheruvapuramdeposits.

In Kerala, magnetite ore reserves are mostlyin the Kozhikode district and in Cherupa,Eliyettimala, Nauminda, Naduvallur andAllampara.

Haemetite with about 65 per cent iron ishard, bumpy, compact and reddish in colour. Itoccurs in sedimentary rocks in crystalline orpowdery forms. The Lake Superior areas in USA,Qebec in Canada, Brazil, Russia, Liberia, Chinaand Spain have the ore.

Haemetite ores contribute to more than three-fourths of India's total production of iron ores.They are found in the Cuddapah and Dharwarsystems of the peninsular Deccan. They mostlyoccur as laminated hematite, micaceoushaematite, hematite breecia and haematitequartz schist.

In Jharkhand and Orissa, the two importantbelts are the Gurumahisani - Badampahar beltand the Barajamda group. In the former the ironore occurs in metamorphosed banded ironformations in Mayurbhanj district in which theiron content is low, i.e., 58 to 60 per cent, and ofsiliceous nature. The latter covers parts ofSinghbhum district in Jharkhand and theadjoining districts of Keonjhar and Sundergarhin Orissa. This group contains the largest orereserves in the country. The massive ores wherethe iron content ranges from 66 to 70 per centoccur on top of hill ranges. The shaly ore may berich or as low as 50 per cent or less in iron. Bluedust ore which is an extremely friable andmicaceous haematite powder containing about68 per cent of iron is formed by leaching process.There also occurs lateritic ore. The importantmining centres of Orissa and Jharkhand areBarbil, Gua, Bonai, Joda, Kiriburu, Suleipat,Gorumahisani, Noamundi, Barajamda, etc.

In Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh, theareas where iron ores are common include the

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Bailadilla, Raughat and Aridongri group inBastar district; Dalli-Rajhara group in the Durgdistrict; and the deposits in Jabalpur district.

In Maharashtra the ore deposits are foundin the Chandrapura district. Here the importantdeposits are located in Lohara, Pipalgaon, Asola,Dewalgaon and Surajgarh. The Chandrapuradeposits have iron content between 55 to 60 percent. Even in Bailadilla and Durg districts, theiron content ranges from 60 to 65 per cent.

Babubudan hills in Chikmaglur district,Sandur, Bellary and Hospet districts as well asShimoga and Chitradurg districts in Karnatakaare important producers of iron ores. The canoe-shaped Sandur ranges of the Bellary Hospet areacontain large reserves of iron ore. The importantdeposits of this area are NEB range, Ramandurg,Abbalaguni, Rajpura, Donamalai, Devadri,Kumaraswamy, Kammadheruvid and Belgal.The iron content of the ores in the area is around64 per cent.

In Goa, the deposits are mostly blue dustwith 60 per cent of iron. These ores are easilyamenable to pelletization, and include bothlumpy and fine varieties. In Goa the richer andlarger deposits are confined to north Goa(between Adualpale and Usgaon). Theimportant deposits which contain more than 10million tonnes of reserves are Bicholim-Sirigaodeposits, Gudnem-Dignem-Surle deposits,Velgnem-Pale deposits and Arwalem deposits.In Ratnagiri district, the areas where iron oresare mostly prevalent include Vengurla, Guldureand Aroes areas. The percentage of iron contentvaries from 55 to 58.

In Andhra Pradesh the iron ore producingareas are scattered through Anantpur,Khamman, Krishna, Kurnool, Cuddapah andNellore districts where the main producingcentres are Jaggayapeta, Ramallakota, Veldurti,Nayudupetta and Bayyaram. The iron contentvaries from 55 to 66 per cent.

In Bhilwara district of Rajasthan, the oredeposits are in Moriza and in the Udaipurdistrict, in Nathrakipal. The iron content variesfrom 55 to 62 per cent.

The other areas where minor deposits of ironore are prevalent include Assam, West Bengal,the Himalayan region, Uttar Pradesh, MadhyaPradesh, Punjab, and Jammu and Kashmir.

Limonite (bog iron) is a brown ore occurringin sedimentary formations. Its iron content is lessthan 50 per cent and it has many impurities.

It occurs in Alabama, USA. Siderite is acarbonate of iron and is found near coal fields.It is also a residual ore and has an iron contentof 20 to 30 per cent. Deposits of the Jurassic Ageare found in Lincolnshire, England, in Franceand Luxembourg.

These ores are found in India in Garhwal(Uttaranchal) and Mirzapur district (UttarPradesh) and the Kangra Valley (HimachalPradesh).

The total recoverable reserves of iron ore inIndia are about 10,052 million tonnes ofhaematite and 3,408 million tonnes of magnetite.The resources of very high grade ore are limitedand are restricted in Bailadila sector ofChhattisgarh and to a lesser extent in Bellary-Hospet area of Karnata and Barajamda sectorin Jharkhand and Orissa. Indian ore has lowsulphur content which never goes above 0.6 percent.

MANGANESE ORE

In terms of composition of themanganiferrous ores with regard to theproportion of manganese to iron, It is customaryto use the term manganese ore for thosecontaining over 40 per cent of manganese. Themost common minerals are braunite, pyrolusite,psilomelane and manganite. The ore containsimpurities like silica, lime, alumina, magnesiaand phosphorus.

Manganese is used as a ferro alloy; it removesgases and acts as a cleanser in the manufactureof steel. Manganese is also used as a decoloriserin glass, and in the manufacture of bleachingpowder and electric batteries.

Georgia has huge deposits of maganese ore.

India is the third largest producer ofmanganese ore in the world. The country's mostimportant ore deposits occur in the form ofsedimentary stratified metamorphic deposits inthe Dharwar system.

In India, extensive and rich manganesedeposits occur in Madhya Pradesh, Orissa,Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and

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Karnataka. Indian manganese deposits displaysome distinct geological formations, which are:

(a) deposits associated with the khondaliterocks (garnet, sillimanite, gneisses) foundin the Srikakulam district of AndhraPradesh and in the Kalahandi and Koraputdistricts in Orissa;

(b) deposits associated with the iron ore bearingrocks (schists) found in Karnataka state inthe Sandur hills, as the Bisgold-Yellapurdeposits in North Kanara, and in theChitradurg and Shimoga belt, and theSupa-Dandeli area of North Kanara;

(c) deposits associated with limestone anddolomite which occur in the Sausar-Manganese-Marble province of MadhyaPradesh, Jharkhand and Gangpur (Orissa),Ratnagiri in Maharashtra, and PanchMahal and Vadodara districts of Gujarat,The deposits of the group are generallysmall and often have high phosphorus asin the case of ores from Srikakulam districts.Manganiferous shales and bandedmanganiferous rocks with friable layers ofquartz are found associated with iron oregroup of rocks in Karnataka and Goa -Ratnagiri. In Jharkhand and Orissa the oreis low in phosphorous and high in iron.

The important areas in Madhya Pradesh areBalaghat, Chindwara, Jabalpur, and Jhabhuadistricts. The deposits occur in a westerlydirection for about 200 km for a width of 25 km.Braunite, pyrolusite and psilomelane are theimportant minerals. The ore is hard, lumpy andcompact in nature. The manganese content isabout 46 per cent. There is high silica contentbut very low amount of phosphorus. This belt isthe major producer of ferro-manganese gradeore in India. In Balaghat, the principal miningareas are Katgaria, Langur, Varwali, Netra,Tirodi, Batjari, Salwa, Jani, Sukali, Mirangpur,Ukwa, Kochawahi and Chikpara. InChindwara district, the areas are in Godawariand Wardha river valleys at Butkum, Goti,Sitapur, Kachidhana and Machiwana. InJhabua, deposits occur in Thandala tehsil atRampura, Mandhi, Tumdia-Bandiwar andAmlaimal. Small deposits occur in Jabalpur,Dewas, Sehore and Nimar districts.

In Maharashtra, the manganese ore is of lowgrade and is mainly mined in Nagpur districtand Bhandara district. In Nagpur district, the

manganese ore is mined in Ramdongri,Kodergaon, Gumgaon, Satak, Kandia, Mansar,Lohardongri, Morgaon, Manigaon, Gondadob,Parsoda, Baldongri, Bhandarkhori. In Bhandaradistrict, the main mining areas are Kusumbah,Pachala-Chilka, Bujrum, Asolpem, Sangi Kargiand Sitasaongi. This ore occur in the SouthRatnagiri district also.

The deposits are associated with khondaliterocks in Srikakulam district where KodurDevada, Sonpuram, Maudipilli, Batuva,Garividi, Sivrem and Garbhan are chief centres.Small deposits also occur at Sankarapolem andKothavalasa in Visakapatnam. Mineral contentis about 25 to 30 per cent. Phosphorus is highand iron content is also fairly high.

In Jharkhand and Orissa, the deposits areassociated with Precambrian iron ore and alsowith quartzites, garnets and schists. The mineralcontent varies from 40 to 55 per cent. InJharkhand, the important producing areas arein Singhbhum, Hazaribagh, Dhanbad, Gaya andMonghyr districts. The important areas inSinghbhum district are Birmitrapur, Kalendaand near Chaibasa, Mirgitnaur, Basadera andPahadpur and other localities where ore of lowgrade is mined. In Orissa, the importantproducers are Bhutura, patmuda, Naktipalli andJamunkria in Sundergarh district, Nishikhal inKalahandi district, Baijolla and Kutinga inKoraput district, Jamda, Koira, Bambari,Bhadrasabi and Dhubna in Keonjhar district.Deposits are also found in Dhenkanal, Ganjam,Cuttack and Mayurbhanj districts.

In Gujarat, the mineral content is around 45per cent. Inferior quality of deposits also occurat many places in important producers are inthe district of Panchmahal near Jatvad,Shivrajpur, Dohad, Bhat and Bamankua and inVadodara district near Pani and betweenKhandi and Unadharia.

In Karnataka manganese is raised in Sandur,North Kanara, Tumkur and Shimoga districtwhich are associated with the Dharwar rocks.The phosphorus and silica content is low, butiron is high (5 to 19 per cent) and the mineralcontent varies from 30 to 50 per cent.

Other areas where minor deposits areprevalent include Goa and Rajasthan.

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CHROMITE:

Chromite is the only ore mineral of chromiumand is an important alloying element in themanufacture of steel. The world's leadingproducer is South Africa Zimbabwe, Russia andKazakhstan are other producers.

In India the chromite deposits occur as thefollowing Precambrian formations of peninsularIndia.

(a) Deposits associated with the Dharwarmetamorphic rocks in Karnataka andMaharashtra.

(b) Deposits associated with themetamorphic rocks of iron ore in Bihar,Jharkhand and Orissa.

1. Fracture lineament emplacements in gneissicterrain in Tamil Nadu.

(d) Younger deposits of the Himalayan-Arakan belt.

(e) Deposits of Andhra and those atBembat and Tashgaon (Ladakh), nearMoreah (Manipur), near Kokapu andVartha in Sabarkanta district (Gujarat)and at Chakargaon (Andamans).

In Karnataka, good grade of chromite occursin Hassan district in an area of 89 sq km. Themain chromite bearing belt is the Nuggchalli beltwhich extends over a distance of 125 km andcarries the important deposits of Byrapur,Chikonhalli, Pensamudra, Bhaktarahalli,Jambur and Tagadur. In the Byrapur area,chrome is traced up to 180 m length with a widthof 9 m. In Mysore district minor bodies ofchromite occur in Kadkola, Talur, Gorur,Dodkanya, Sindhuvalli and Dodkattur areas. InSindhuvalli area, the mineral content rangesfrom 48 to 56 pe cent. Chitradurg, Shimoga andKadur also contain few deposits of chromite.Low grade chromite is also found near Tarikerein Chikmaglur district is also found near Tarikerein Chikmaglur district and near Krishnarajpatand Kabbal in Mandhya district.

In Maharashtra chromite occurs aroundKankauli and Wagda areas in Ratnagiri district.The mineral content is 31 to 38 per cent. InBhandara district, it is found around Taka,Balgatta and Pauni with a mineral content of 31to 38 per cent.

Orissa is considered as the largest chromitedeposit in the country. The deposits are mainly

located in the Sukinda ultrabasic belt of Cuttack,Dhenkanal district and in the Keonjhar districtof the state. The belt extends over a distance ofabout 20 km and the width of the belt is about 2km. The ore bodies are venticular in shape andoccur as lenses and patches within the laterisedultrabasic rocks. The types of ores found to occurare massive ores, banded ores, disseminated ores,ferruginous lateritic ores, powdery or friable ores,conglomeratic ores and placer ores.

In Jharkhand chromite is found isSinghbhum district in the hills of Rorburu,Kiriburu, Kittaburu and Chittangburu aroundJojohatu area. The mineral content is 53 per centon an average.

In Tamil Nadu, chromite occurs inSittampundi in Salem district. Bands of chromiterepresent a lineament intrustion in the geneticgenesis. The mineral content is low it about 21per cent.

TUNGSTEN:

Tungsten is a heavy metal used in steel alloys,its chief alloys, is chief ore is wolfram. It is foundin large amounts in China. USA, Russia, PortugalAustralia and South Africa also have the metal.

NICKEL:

The main ore is pentlaudite, a complexmixture of nickel, iron and sulphur. Nickel is alsooften found in association with copper. It is usedfor plating purposes as it does not rust. It is alsoless magnetic than iron, so it can be used in metalparts located near compasses. Canada producesthe largest amount of the world's nickel. Russiaand Australia have large resources.

COBALT:

A hard blue metal with properties similar toiron, cobalt is used in making cobalt steel and inradio-therapy. More than half of the worldproduction comes from Zaire. Zambia, Morocco,Canada and Finland also produce cobalt.

VANADIUM:

The ores are carnotite, desdoisite, rescoeliteand patronite. It helps to remove non-metallicimpurities form steel; it is used in paints and dyes.Major producers are South Africa, Russia andUSA.

MOLYBDENUM:

Molybdenite and wulfenite are the main oresoccurring in quartz veins in granitic rocks. It is

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used in making alloy steel and in valves, electriclamps, and permanent magnets, among otherthings. Major producers are USA, Canada,Russia and Chile.

GOLD:

Gold may occur in alluvial or in placerdeposits, as in California and Alaska. Or it mayoccur as reefs or lodes underground, as in SouthAfrica. The greatest producer is South Africa,with major mines in the Witwatersrand,Odendaalrus and Lydenburg. Canada, Japan,the USA, Zimbabwe and Ghana also producegold.

In India, the vein gold deposits are found inKarnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar,Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu while alluvialgold is mainly found in Bihar, Assam, UttarPradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Punjab andMeghalaya.

The Kolar gold field has been the principalsource of gold production in India since 1871when mining first started. It has four productivemines—Nandydroog, Champion Reef, Mysoreand Ooregaum. The Champion Reef mine is thedeepest mine in the world. The Dharwar schistson which the Kolar gold fields are situated runin a north-south direction for 80 km. However,the quartz veins bearing gold are confined to onlya 6-7 km section near Marikuppan. Themineralising solutions responsible for thedevelopment of the auriferous veins of SouthIndia were probably derived from the magmawhich gave rise to champion genesses. The Kolarfield mined by the Bharat Gold Mines Limitedhas always had the highest output in India, butit now faces closure.

In the Raichur district, the auriferous veinsoccur within the schistose rocks of Dharwarianage. There are six auriferous quartz reefs ofwhich the Oakley reef is the main producer. It isworked by Hutti gold Mines Company ofKarnataka state. According to the GeologicalSurvey of India, the reserves in both these fieldsare estimated at about 4.5 million tonnes with atotal gold content of about 45,000 kg. In additionore reserves of about 60,000 tonnes with 8.5 gmper tonne have been indicated in Budini area.

New fields have been found at Kempinkote(Hassan district), Honnali (Shimoga district),Siddarahalli (Chikmaglur district), Bellara(Chitradurg district) and Munglur (Gulbargadistrict).

In Andhra Pradesh the Ramgiri field ofAnantapur district is the main source of gold.Other areas are Chittoor, East Godavari, Kurnooland Warangal districts. In Ramgiri field, themineralisation extends for 19 km from north tosouth from Kankapuram to Jibutil.

SILVER:

The ore minerals are stephanite, agentite,proustite and pyrargyrite. Silver is found in thegalena ores that may have up to one per cent ofthis metallic mineral. Mexico is the chiefproducer of silver; other producers are Russia,Canada, peru and Australia.

In India, the lead-zinc ores of Zawar inRajasthan yield silver. Silver is derived as a by-product in the Karnataka gold fields. The leadores in Andhra Pradesh (Guntur, Cuddapah,Kurnool districts), Jharkhand (Santhal Parganas,Singhbhum), Bihar (Bhagalpur), Gujarat(Vadodara district), Karnataka (the district ofBellary), Uttaranchal (Almora district),Karnataka (the district of Bellary), Uttaranchal(Almora district) and Jammu and Kashmir(Baramula district) are also expected to yieldsome silver.

PLATINUM:

Platinum is a rare metal, which is alwaysfound with other rare metals allied to theplatinum group such as osmium (the heaviestmetal), palladium (of great medical importance),iridium (used in fountain pen nibs) and rhodium(used for plating silver to avoid tarnishing).Canada and South Africa lead in the productionof platinum and its allied metals, followed byRussia.

COPPER:

Copper is the most important non-ferrousmetal and was the earliest metal used by man.In nature, copper occurs in pure form but mostlyas sulphides, oxides and carbonates. To beeconomically exploitable, copper ores shouldcontain at least 2.5 per cent of copper. Theworld's largest producers are the USA, Russia,Chile, Zambia, Canada and Zaire.

India is deficient in copper ores and thusdepends to a large extent on imports. In India,copper ores occur as sulphides. They occur bothin ancient crystalline and younger rockformations including the Cuddapahs, Bijawarsand Aravallis.

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Copper is mined at the Khetri complex inRajasthan, in which state important deposits arefound in Kho-Dhariba area. Jharkhand(Singhbhum) and Andhra Pradesh(Agnigundala) have some deposits.

In Andhra Pradesh, the important copperbelt lies in Agnigundala in the Guntur district.The mineral here is associated with quartzitesand dolomites interbanded with phyllites andshales. The principal deposits are aroundBondalamottu, Nallankonda and Dhukonda.Copper ore also occurs in Ganikalava,Gumankonda and Somalapilli areas (Kurnooldistrict), Garimanipenta (Nellore district) andZangamraju Varikunta-Chelima areas.

In Jharkhand, in the Singhbhum district, acopper-bearing belt of about 140 km occurs. Herethe copper ore occurs as veins in the country rockconsisting of micaschists, quartz schists, chloriteschists, biotite schists, granite and granitegneisses. The veins are best developed along azone of overthrust where they form well-definedlodes as seen at Rakha mines, Mosabani andDhobani. Individual lodes normally consist ofone or more veins one inch to two feet thick, theaverage being 5 to 7 inches.

In Rajasthan, the Khetri copper deposit isone of the important copper deposits in thecountry. This belt has richly mineralised sections.Important deposits are in the Khi-Dhariba area(Alwar district), and the Khetri-Singhana(Jhujhunu district)--specifically at Kolihan andMandhan, Berkhara mines and Akhwali mines.The copper ore bodies occur in phyllites, statesand schists of the Ajabgarh series (Delhi system)as irregular stringers, fillings of schistose planesand fractures and disseminations in the hostrock. The mineralisation in Rajasthan copper beltis epigenetic and seems to have occurred underbelt is epigenetic and seems to have occurredunder mesothermal conditions from post-Delhi(erinpura) granite magma.

Other important copper deposits of thecountry are in Himachal Pradesh—Kangra-Kuluvalley; Mysore—Chittaldrug, Hassan, Bellarydistricts; West Bengal—Darjeeling, Jalpaiguridistricts; Sikkim—Rangpo and Dickchu depositswhich are found to occur in association withmetamorphic rocks.

TIN:

The main ore of tin is cassiterite or tinstorewith about 75 per cent of tin. It occurs in igneous

and metamorphic rocks. Nearly 80 per cent ofthe world's supplies come from alluvial deposits.Malaysia is the world's leading producer andexporter of tin. Other producers are China,Indonesia, Thailand, Nigeria, Zaire, Bolivia andAustralia.

LEAD AND ZINC:

The two metals, lead and zinc, rarely occurin native state. They generally occur incombination with other elements. Galena is thechief ore of lead while sphalerite or zinc blendeis the chief ore of zinc. These sulphide oreminerals of lead and zinc are formed due tocontact metasomatism, replacement byhydrothermal solutions. Galena is found in veinsin limestones, calcareous slates and sandstonesand occasionally in metamorphic rocks or inassociation with volcanic rocks, while zincblende or sphalerite is found in veins inassociaiton with galena, chalcopyrites, ironpyrites and other sulphide ores. The chief rocktypes associated with the sulphide ores of leadand zinc are pyrite, slate, dolomite and quartz.

Major producers of lead are the USA, Russia,Australia, Canada, Peru and Bulgaria. Leadingproducers of zinc are Canada, Russia, Peru,Australia and the USA.

The most important of the lead-zinc depositsof economic value in India is the Zawar depositof Udaipur district of Rajasthan. In the Zawararea, the Mochia Magra, Baroi Magra andZawar-Mala hills contain most extensivedeposits. The Zawar mine is located in MochiaMagra hills Lead and zinc occur at these places.Mineralisations of lead and zinc occur at theseplaces. Mineralisations of lead and thin andparallel tabular masses. Galena is generallyconcentrated in some particular portions of thedeposits but the sphalerite is more or less evenlydistributed. Lead-copper ore deposits occur inAgnigundala area of Guntur district of AndhraPradesh. There is a lead-zinc-copper belt inAmbamata Devi area of Gujarat and Rajasthan.The Sargipalli area in the district of Sundergarh(Orissa) has deposits of these metals.

BAUXITE:

The only ore from which aluminium isextracted is called 'bauxite', which is not amineral but and aggregate chiefly of gibbsite,boehmite and a little of kaolinite. The largestquantities of bauxite are found in the tropical

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and sub-tropical latitudes. Australia, Jamaicaand Guinea are the major suppliers. India is fifthin world bauxite resources.

Bauxite is associated with laterite rocksoccurring extensively as blankets or cappingseither on the plateau or hill ranges of peninsularIndia or in certain low level laterites in the inlandarea or in coastal tracts of the country. It is aresult of the residual weathering process whichleads to leaching of the silica.

In Jharkhand, extensive deposits occur inKhuria highlands in Ranchi and Palamaudistricts. The important deposits are located atBagrupahar, Seradang, Pabhrapat Jardapahar,Maidanpat and Manduapat. In the Palamaudistrict, the Netrahat plateau is important. Herethe important deposits are located at Jamiropat,Ranchonghat, Orsapat and Joradumar.

In Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgarh, thereare three important areas: (a) the Amarkantakplateau region comprising Sarguja, Raigarh andBilaspur districts; (b) the Maikal range of hills inthe Bilaspur, Shahdol, Durg Mandla andBalaghat districts; (c) the Katni area of Jabalputdistrict.

In Bilaspur district bauxite deposits arelocated on Phutka Pahar, Laddhi Pahar,Mahadeo Pahar and several other hilltops. InShahdol and Mandla districts bauxite is foundin Umergaon, Jamuna Dadar, Dadar, RuktiDadar and Nanku Dadar areas. Bauxite depositssegregated in the laterite cappings are locatedin Jashpur in Khuria highlands north of Kurki,Kesmanda, Chandra and Rahbon Danwahi.

In Gujarat, important deposits occur inlaterite cappings in plateau basalts, lyingbetween the Deccan Traps and the Gaj beds forabout 48 km between Gulf of Kutch and theArabian Sea through Bhavnagar, Junagarhdistricts and around Bhatla, Nandana, Rann,Mewasa, Habardi, Kenedi, Lamba and Virpur.Occurrences have also been reported in Mandvi,Lakhpat, Nakharana and Bhujr, and Anjartalukas of Kutch district.

In Maharashtra, some of the deposits arefound in plateaus such as Udgiri, Dhangarvadi,Radhanagri and Iderganj in Kolahpur district.

In Tamil Nadu, bauxite deposits are foundin four areas, namely, Kotagiri and Curzonvalley areas and near Ootacamund in the

eastern portion of the Nilgiri hills; plateau regionof the Palni and Kodaikanal hills in he Maduraidistrict; Shevaroy hills near Yarcand in the Salemdistrict; and in parts of the Kollaimalai hill.

In Karnataka the principal deposits occur inthe Belgaum district near Sidhpahar, Jamboti andBetul and in the Magalgad plateau, nearKasarsoda range of hills, Kalanandigarh areaand the Boknur-Navge ridge.

In Orissa, bauxite deposits occur inPanchpatmalli hills in Koraput. Other depositsare Bahlimali Parbat, Kalkahal, Kutrumali, etc.Large deposits are also found in the Eastern Ghattract in Koraput district. Bauxite reserves havealso been discovered in Gandhamardhan plateauof Sambalpur and Bolangir districts.

In Andhra Pradesh, bauxite has beendiscovered in the Anantgiri plateau. There are12 such blocks in the area. The Gallikonda areain Visakhapatnam district has also shown areserve.

Other areas of occurrences are in Jammu andKashmir and Uttar Pradesh.

URANIUM:

The main ores are uranite and pitchblende.A Geiger counter, which measures radioactivity,is used to locate deposits. Occurrences ofuranium ores are rare and localised.Concentrations are generally low, so thatextraction is both difficult and costly.

Canada, the USA and South Africa aremajor producers.

In India, uranium occurs at Pichli nearAbrakipahar in Gaya district (Bihar), nearSunrgai and Dalbhum area of Singhbhumdistrict (Jharkhand). Jaduguda is the only mineworked at present. In Rajasthan, it is found inBisundi area of Ajmer district and Umra nearUdaipur. In Andhra Pradesh it occurs in Nelloredistrict in Sankara mine. In Karnataka it is foundat Yedyur near Bangalore. Uranium has alsobeen found at Domiasat.

MICA:

The term 'mica' covers a large group of rock-forming minerals. Natural mica forms hexagonalcrystals of varying size. Owing to its excellentdielectric strength, low loss power factor andinsulating properties, mica is one of the

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indispensable minerals used in electrical andelectronics industries. The main mica mineralsare muscovite, biotite, phlogopite. Mica mineralsoccur in igneous, sedimentary and metamorphicrocks formed under different geologicalconditions. While muscovite occurs inpegmatites of acidic nature, phlogopite mica isrestricted to basic pegmatite. Commercial biotiteis found to occur mostly in biotite schists. Indiais the most important mica producing countryin the world and it supplies 80 per cent of theworld requirements of block mica. Theoccurrence of muscovite mica is associated withthe rocks of the Archaean age. It occurs in theKoderma mica belt in Jharkhand, the Nelloremica belt in Andhra Pradesh, and the Rajastanmica belt.

The Koderma mica belt stretches from theGaya district through Hazaribagh and Monghyrto the Bhagalpur district. In this mica belt, thedeposits of mica are associated with thepegmatite veins which traverse through theschistose and gneissose country rocks. The blocksof muscovite which occur within the Bihar micabelt are generally reddish in colour and aretherefore known as 'Ruby mica'.

The Nellore mica belt stretches betweenGudur and Sangam. The country rocks areArchaean mica schist and hornblende schistwhich are intruded by pegmatite veins. Heremuscovites are light green in colour.

Nearly 20 per cent of the Indian productioncomes from the Rajasthan belt. Here the mica-bearing pegmatites are intrusive mainly intorocks of the gneissic complex and the Aravallischists.

In Karnataka the deposits occur mainly inMysore and Hassan districts, at Tagdur,Vadesamudra, Undavadi and Mundoor. Thequality of the mica is poor.

In Tamil Nadu few occurrences that havebeen re-corded are in Tirunelveli district nearKovilpatti in Coimbatore district (inVairemanlam, Munampalli, Sevattampalaiyam),in Tiruchirappalli district (in Kurumbapatti,Pallipati Kadavur and Mungilmalai) and also inMadurai and Kanyakumari districts.

Kerala too accounts for mica occurrences inAlleppey district at Maulhupa and Kulanda andin Quilion district around Ranni. The importantproducers are Punalur and Nayyur.

Other places where mica is found are inMadhya Pradesh, Mimachal Pradesh, Assamand West Bengal.

DIAMOND:

Diamond is not a metal, but a precious stone.Diamonds occur as scattered crystals in anigneous rock called kimberlite which formspipes, dykes or volcanic plugs deepunderground. Diamonds also come from alluvialsources, e.g. in Brazil or Zaire. Zaire is the leadingproducer (by quantity) but mostly produces bort.Botswana and South Africa are leadinggemstone producers. The world's greatestdiamond cutting centres are Antwerp,Amsterdam and The Hague.

In India, the main diamond bearing areas arePanna belt in Madhya Pradesh, Raipur inChhattisgarh, Munimadugu-Banganapalleconglomerate in Kurnool district, Wajrakarurkimberlite pipe in Anantapur district and thegravels of Krishna river basic in Andhra Pradesh.

Reserves have been estimated only in Pannabelt and Krishna gravels.

ASBESTOS:

Its main ore is chryoslite. France and Russiaare major producers.

SULPHUR:

Gases emitted from volcanoes are highlysulphuruous and sulphur is thus deposited involcanic regions. It is also obtained from ironpyrites (iron sulphide). Sulphur comes mainlyfrom Poland, the USA and Mexico.

SALT:

Halite or sodium chloride is common salt. Itoccurs as a sedimentary rock as a result ofevaporation of sea-water or lakes in the past.Major producers of rock salt are USA and China.

In India three-fourths of salt productioncomes from the sea. Mithapur, Chharvada,Jamnagar, Dharsana, Bulsar and other areas inthe Gujarat region produce more than half ofthe country's total salt every year. The salt-producing centres in Maharashtra include Uran,Bhayandar and Bhandup. Salt is also obtainedfrom coastal tracts in Goa; Kerala; Karnataka;Cuddalore, Adrampatnam, Madras andTuticorin in Tamil Nadu, which produces about16 per cent of the country's total annual

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production; Pennuguduru and Nanpadu inAndhra; and Kolkata.

In the north-western region, Rajasthan is themain salt-producing state. The Sambhar lake(Jaipur district) is the largest and the mostimportant salt-producing area in India. Areasin the district of Jodhpur (Didwana, Pachbhadraand Phalodi) and Bikaner district (Lonkarasar)also yield salt.

Drang, Guma and other parts of Mandi(Himachal Pradesh) are centres where rock saltis mined.

POTASH:

Main sources of potash are Canada,Germany, USA.

PHOSPHATES:

Phosphates occur as rocks in sedimentarysequences or as phosphatic nodules. Anothersource is bird droppings or guano. Main sourcesof phosphate rock is the USA and the mainsource of guano is the coast of Peru.

KAOLIN:

Kaolin or china clay is a fine clay formed bythe alteration of granite by metamorphism.Kaolin is produced for local use in many partsof the world. USA leads in production.

COAL:

A principal mineral fuel, coal is acombustible, solid stratified rock of organic andmineral matter. The organic matter constitutescarbon (60 to 90 per cent), hydrogen (one to 12per cent) and also small amounts of phosphorusand sulphur. Coal occurs as a sedimentary rockin association with carbonaceous shale,sandstone and even fireclay in a regularsuccession and in repetitions. Gondwana coal isfound as drifted deposits and tertiary coal occursas in situ deposits.

Coal originates from the accumulation ofvegetable matter in swampy areas on broaddelta, coastal plains and basin lowlands. Thevegetable matter is subjected to geologicalprocesses that effect physical and chemicalchanges. The changes can be seen in thedarkening of colour, increase in compactness,hardness and carbon content, and decrease involatility and moisture. The growth in situ anddrift theories explain the origin of coal. The

complex process of coal formation involvesphysical and bacteriological agencies. Favourableclimatic conditions for coal formation are mildtemperature to sub-tropical climate with well-distributed moderate to heavy rainfall.

Peat is the first stage of coal formation andvaries considerably in extent and thickness. Ithas a high percentage of moisture and volatilematter. Carbon makes up only about one-thirdof its bulk. Fenno - Scandinavia is the site of theworld's main deposits of peat.

Lignite is considered to be the second stageof coal formation after peat. Its moisture contentis high (over 35 per cent), as a result of which itgives out much smoke but little heat. It breaksup easily when exposed to air. About 15 per centof the world's coal output is from lignite.

Bituminous coal is hard, black and compact.It makes up most of the world's total coal output.It varies in composition, in carbon content (from40 per cent to 80 per cent), and in moisture andvolatile content (from 15 per cent to 40 per cent).Generally, steam coal with a fixed carbon contentof more than 80 per cent, is the best ofbituminous group. The widest domestic use is ofcoal with a fixed carbon content varying from50 to 80 per cent. Coking coal is high-gradebituminous coal with a special value becausewhen it is heated in coke ovens it fuses into coke,an important ingredient in iron and steelsmelting in blast furnaces. Gas coal with a highcontent of gaseous and volatile matter is bestsuited for the production of coal-gas and otherchemical products.

The most extensive deposits of bituminouscoal occur in the Appalachians and the centralcontinental areas of the USA, the Donbas andKuzbas regions of the Ukraine and Russia, theShanxi-Shaanxi and Sichuan coalfields of China.

Anthracite, the hardest variety, rankshighest amongst the coals. It has a carboncontent of almost 95 per cent with practicallyno volatile matter. Only about 5 per cent of theworld's coal is anthracite and 50 per cent of thiscomes from the Pennsylvanian fields of the USA.Russia, Ukraine, Kirghizia, Kazakhstan accountfor another 25 per cent.

In India, coal belongs to two principalgeological periods, i.e., the lower Gondwanacoals of Permian age and Tertiary coals of Eoceneto Miocene age. The greatest period of coal

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formation in India is the Permian. The importantcoal bearing formations are collectively knownas Damudas and belong to the lower Gondwanasystem. The series of coal formations are Peat-lignite-bituminous Anthracite. The lowerGondwana coals account for more then 90 percent of the annual production of coal which isgenerally of bituminous rank. In Tertiarycoalfields lignite predominates.

The Gondwana coals are largely confined tothe river valleys like those of the Damodar,Mahanadi, Godavari, etc. Tertiary coalsprincipally occur in Assam, in the Himalayanfoothills of Kashmir and in Rajasthan (Palna inBikaner) in Eocene strata. Besides these, lignitedeposits are found to occur in the South Arcotdistrict of Tamil Nadu, in Kutch of Gujarat andalso in the state of Kerala. The Neyveli lignitefield of Tamil Nadu (which is of the MioceneAge) is the largest lignite deposit in South India.

Coalfields engaged in mining Gondwanacoal are to be found in the following states.

In West Bengal, the Burdwan, Bankura,Purulia, Birbhum, Darjeeling and Jalpaiguridistricts account for large coal deposits. The stateaccounts for one-fourth of the country'sproduction and an equal proportion of itsreserves. The chief and the largest coalfield inIndia is the Raniganj coalfield.

In Jharkhand, there are several promisingcoalfields in Dhanbad, Hazaribagh, Palamauand Santhal Pargana districts. Of these, Jharia,East and West Bokaro, Giridih, North and SouthKaranpura, Ramgarh, Auranga, Hutar andDaltonganj are the most important. Jhariacoalfield in the Dhanbad district has coals of lowvolatile coking quality. That is why it has beenrecognised as the “store house of bestmetallurgical coals in India.” An average analysisof Jharia coal shows moisture content to be 1.38per cent, volatile matter, 21.5 per cent, fixedcarbon, 60.4 per cent and ash, 14.95 per cent.

The Bokara coalfield lies within 32 km of thewestern end of the Jharia coalfield. It comprisestwo parts separated by the Bokarao River—EastBokaro and the West Bokaro field. The eastBokaro coalfield coves abut 207 sq km and has29 seams, while the west Bokaro coalfield coversabout 167 sq km and has 23 major seams. Theaverage sample of coal analysis shows moisture,0-82 per cent; volatile matter, 25.56 per cent; ash,19.38 per cent; and fixed carbon, 54.24 per cent.

The Giridih or Karharbari coalfield lies to thesouth-west of Giridih in Hazaribagh district. Itsarea is 28.5 sq km and there are three main seamsof varying thickness—lower Karharbari, upperKarharbari and the Badhua seams. The lowerKarharbari provides the finest coking coal.

Karanpura coalfield is separated into northand south Karanpura. The coal seams occur inboth the Barakar and Raniganj measures, theseams being about 22 m thick.

The Ramgarh coalfield lies about 9 km of theBokaro field covering an area of about 98 sq kmmostly with Barakar measures. There are 22seams of which four major seams have anaverage thickness of 8 m each. The coal is dull inappearance and high in ash content—30.7 to31.8 per cent.

Auranga, Hutar and Daltonganj coalfieldsare of minor importance in Palamau district.Auranga extends over 240 sq km with a seam of13 m thickness. The coal analysis showsmoisture, 10.35 per cent; volatile matter, 26.81per cent; fixed carbon, 26.43 per cent; and ash,35.81 per cent. Hutar covers an area of 200 sqkm with five seams. Daltonganj field containsTalchir seams.

In Sambalpur and Sundargarh districts ofOrissa lies the 1B river coalfield where coal occursin middle and lower Barakar seams of whichRampur, Lajkuria and Gamhaera are important.The Talcher coalfield extends from Talchir toRairkhol in Dhenkanal and Sambalpur districts.

In Madhya Pradesh, coal is generally foundassociated with Barakar measures. Theimportant fields are Tatapani-Ramkola with fivemain seams of inferior quality coal; Jhimilli withfive main seams of moderate coking type coal;Pench valley with four main seams of highvolatile non-coking coal; Karhan valley with aseam of high volatile coking coal. The Korba fieldwith several seams is in Chhattisgarh.

Important coal deposits in Maharashtra arein Nagpur district at Kamptee; Chandrapurdistrict in Wardha valley, Warora and Ghugus;and at Ballarpur in Yavatmal district. TheWardha coalfield alone contains a little over 2000million tonnes.

Warangal Khammamet, East Godavari andWest Godavari districts are the main coal-bearingareas in Andhra Pradesh.

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Of the Tertiary variety, Makum coalfield inAssam is the most profitable and workableregion. Workable seams are exposed along thenorthern flank of the Naga-Patkoi ranges facingSibsagar (at Nazira) and Lakhimpur district (atJeypore). Other fields are Dolgrung and Nambor.Assam coal has very low ash and high cokingqualities but the sulphur content is high andtherefore it is unsuitable for metallurgicalpurposes.

In the closely associated Balyong, Doigringand Waimong fields of Meghalaya, coal seamsare high. In Balphakram-Pendeng area eightseams have been recorded in the Chatmang andBalphakram hills with a reserve of 32 milliontonnes of good quality coal.

The upper Assam belt extends into theNamchick-Namphuk coalfields of Tirap districtof Arunachal Pradesh. In this coalfield, coal isgenerally high in volatility and in sulphurcontent. The Jhanzi-Disai coal belt and Barjancoalfield of Nagaland and Dilli-Jaipur of upperAssam also belong to the same belt.

India at present is the fifth largest producerof coal in the world. Coal is also India's largestmineral resource.

PETROLEUM:

The word 'petroleum' has been derived fromthe world 'petra', which means rock, and 'oleum'which means oil. Thus 'petroleum' means 'rock,and 'oleum' which means oil. Thus 'petroleum'means rock, and 'oleum' which means oil. Thus'petroleum' means 'rock-oil'. It is one of theimportant mineral fuels and is a complexmixture of hydrocarbon compounds with minoramounts of impurities like nitrogen, sulphur andoxygen. The liquid petroleum is called crude oil,petroleum gas is called natural gas and the semi-solid to solid forms of petroleum are known asasphalt, tar, pitch, bitumen, etc.

For petroleum to accumulate in commercialquantities in an area, the oil must originate in asource bed. A marine shale, once a black mudrich in organic compound, is thought to be acommon source rock. The oil then migrates topermeable reservoir rocks after travelling for longdistances both vertically and horizontally. Tesource beds tend to lack the permeabilitynecessary for profitable extraction of the oil. Anon-permeable layer must occur above thereservoir bed. A non-permeable layer must occur

above the reservoir bed. A non-permeable layermust occur above the servoir bed. A favourablestructure must exist.

Three principal grades of crude oil areconsidered important, Paraffin-Base Oil with ahigh percentage of the lighter hydrocarbons suchas methane gives products, such as petrol,paraffin and high grade lubricating oils whichare commercially more valued. Asphalt-Base Oilconsists mainly of the heavier hydrocarbons witha viscous, asphaltic base. Mixed-Based Oil is anintermediate group with mixed properties of thelighter and heavier oils. It has use in lubricantsand fuel oils.

Over 75 per cent of the world's supply ofcrude oil comes from three major areas: NorthAmerica, the West Asian states, Russia andAzerbaijan.

Saudi Arabia has the largest reservesfollowed by Iraq and the United Arab Emirates.Saudi Arabia is the leading producer followedby the Commonwealth of Independent Statesand USA.

India's most important oil-bearing area inthe eastern part of the Himalayas is Assam. Theoil-bearing belt runs from extreme north-east ofAssam to the eastern border of the Brahmaputraand Surma valley. The existence of oil in the hillsof upper Assam was known as early as 1825,but drilling of oil started only in 1866 followingthe recommendations of the Geological Surveyof India (GSI) in 1865. During 1866-68 severalshallow wells were drilled near Makum byMckellop Stewart and Company. It was thediscovery of the Digboi oilfields, however, whichmarks a landmark in the development of India'ssources of oil.

In India, the Digboi oilfield, situated inLakhimpur district of upper Assam, it is thebiggest oilfield in India. Digboi area raises about4 lakh tonnes of crude annually. Tipamsandstone of Miopliocene age is the oil bearingformation.

Naharkatiya oilfield is situated 32 km awayfrom Digboi. This field was discovered in 1955by Assam Oil Company. Its reserve is estimatedto be about 5 million tonnes. Naharkatiya is thesecond largest oilfield in India. The oil bearingformation is the Barail series of Oligocene age.Moran, about 40 km south-west of Digboi,Bappapung, Hausanpung, Hugirijang also have

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oilfields. The search for oil in the Surma valley(Cachar district) dates back to 1910. In 1910 theBadarpur Oil Company was formed to work theBadarpur oilfield. In Surma valley, some oil ofpoor quality is found in Badarpur, Masimpurand Patharia. In 1961 oil was discovered atRudrasgar near Nunmati.

In Gujarat, the Cambay basin is the site ofthe main oil bearing sands of Oligocene age. Herea majority of the wells are only gas-producing.The other oilfields of importance are Kaloloilfield, Nawagam and Sanand oilfield.

The Ankaleshwar oilfield is the mostimportant oilfield discovered so far in Gujarat.The producing sands are of Eocene age. This fieldwas discovered in 1961.

In Maharashtra, about 184 km off Mumbaiin the Arabian Sea, a huge oil deposit, known asBombay High, was struck (in 1974) in limestonerocks of Miocene age. Bombay High (Ratnagiridistrict) is the most productive oilfield and has areserve of 5 crore tonnes of oil. It has an area of2 thousand sq km. While the output ofconventional oilfields has increased onlymarginally over the past 14 years, Bombay Highhas accounted for the bulk of the higherproduction. During 1978-79, the work on thelaying of sub-sect pipeline from Bombay High toUran and transfer line from Uran to Trombaywas completed. Since 1978, oil and gas havestarted to flow through these pipelines.

In the south, the Cauvery, the Krishna andthe Godavari basins have oil reserves.

A number of potential oil bearing fields havebeen discovered in the states of Tripura, Punjab,Nagaland, Gujarat, West Bengal, and Jammuand Kashmir.

NATURAL GAS:

Most of the natural gas is found inassociation with crude oil. It is obtained as a by-product from petroleum refineries. The gasfieldat Cambay (Gujarat) as the only non-associatedsource of natural gas. The Ankleshwar gasfield,Bombay High—a comparatively new source, andMorah and Naharkatiya gasfields in Assam areamong the main sources. It is available asseepages in Nom-Chick, Miao Punga andLaptang Pung in Arunachal Pradesh, areas ofthe Baramura range in Tripura, and Jwalamukhiand Kangra in Himachal Pradesh. Natural gas

as also been discovered in Punjab (Ferozepurdistrict), West Bengal (Midnapore district),Jammu and Kashmir (in parts of Mausar-Maradpur) and Tamil Nadu (Thanjavur andChinglepet districts).

Some Other Minerals of India:

Dolomite:

Dolomite is a double carbonate of magnesiumand calcium found in Bihar and Jharkhand(Singhbhum and Shahabad districts); TamilNadu (Trinelveli, Salem districts and in coastalareas near Tuticorin); Orissa (Birmatrapur,Bildih, Khatepur and Hathibri in Sundargarhdistrict, Sulai and other areas in Sambalpurdistrict and Koraput district); ChhattisgarhKodwa-Mohbatta in Durg district and Hirri,Chatane, Dhurarbhatta, Baraduar and Atta inBilaspupr); some hills in Himachal Pradesh; andVadodara and Bhavnagar districts in Gujarat.

Steatite:

Steatite (also sandstone or talc), a hydroussilicate of magnesium, is found in associationwith dolomitic lime-stone and basic igneous rockmaterial. Rajasthan has the largest steatitereserves.

Bhilwara, Jaipur and Udaipur districts yieldmore than four-fifths of the state's totalproduction. Other districts living steatite reservesare Alwar, Sawai Madhopur and Dungarpur.

The steatite reserves in Andhra Pradesh areassociated with metamorphosed magnesiumlimestone. They are found in the districts ofKurnool, Cuddapah, Anantapur, Chittoor.

In Jharkhand, steatite is found in the districtsof Singhbum, Hazaribagh, Dhanbad andRanchi.

Other states possessing reserves of steatiteare: Madhya Pradesh (mainly Jabalpur andJhabua districts); Karnataka Bellary, Shimoga,Hassan, Bijapur, Tumkur, Mysore and SouthKanara districts); Orissa (near Tiring,Kendumundi and Kharidamak in Mayurbhanjdistrict, Balasore district, and Sundargarh andCuttack districts); Tamil Nadu (Saleum,Combatore, North and South Arcot, andTiruchirapalli districts); Gujarat (at Vartha,Bhanta and Thuravas); Maharashtra (parts ofRatnagiri, Bhandara and Chandrapur districts);

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West Bengal (purulia, Darjeeling and Midnapurdistricts).

Limestone:

The sedimentary despoits of limestone occurwith rocks constituting calcium carbonate ordouble carbonate of magnesium and calcium, orboth. Phosphorous, sulphur, alumina and silicamay also be found.

In Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh,limestone deposits are found in Katni and Jukehi-Keymore in the district of Jabalpur, Alaktara inBilaspur district, and in Raipur, Rajgarh, Bastar,Durg, Betul and Sagar districts. Deposits ofcement and flux grade are found in the districtof Rewa. Damoh district has deposits of blastfurnace grade.

In Andhra Pradesh the districts of Guntur,Krishna, Cuddapah, Khammam, Kurnool,Nalgonda and Godavari possess some of themajor deposits.

In Tamil Nadu, important reserves of mainlycement grade limestone are found inTiruchirapalli, Coimbatore, Madurai, andRamnathapuram districts. Salem district has fluxgrade deposits as well. Lime can be obtainedfrom the limestone reserves in Tirunelveli, SouthArcot and Thanjavur.

In Karnataka flux grade limestone depositsare dispersed in the districts of Shimga, Belgaumand Bijapur. Mysore, Gulbarga, Tumkur andchitradurg districts have also some deposits.

In Orissa important deposits of mainly fluxgrade limestone occur at Hathbari, Birmitrapur,Amghat, Pagposh, Purnapani andKatopuryheria in Sundargarh district. Areas ofKalahandi and Sambalpur districts also yieldlimestone.

In Gujarat the districts of Junagarh (nearDari, Veraval, Patan, Grokhundi, Savni andSutrapara), Banaskanta (near Pasuval, Khuniaand Diwania), Sabarkanta (near Posina), andKhera (near Balasinar) have high gradelimestone reserves. Much of this limestone canbe used for manufacturing cement.

In Rajasthan, cement grade limestone occursin Jaipur, Ajmer, Sawai Madhopur, Pali,Jodhpur, Jhunjhunu, Sirohi, Bundi andBanswara districts.

The Khasi and Jaintia hills in Meghalaya,Nowgong and Sibsagar districts in Assam,Shahabad, Palamau, Ranchi, Hazaribagh andSinghbhum districts in Bihar, Ahmednagar,Yavatmal, Chandrapur and Nanded districts inMaharastra are other important areas bearinglimestone deposits.

Magnesite:

It is an important ore mineral of magnesium.It is a refractory mineral. About two-thirds ofIndia's total magnesite reserves are located inSalem district of Tamil Nadu and over a quarterin Almora district of Uttaranchal. Karnataka,Bihar and Rajasthan have small reserves.

The principal magnesite deposits in TamilNadu are found in the chalk hills area in Salemdistrict. The deposits occur in regular veins inintrusive ultrabasic rocks. In Almora district ofUttaranchal good quality magnesite occurs innarrow bands of variable thickness in massivedolomite between Someshwar and Bageshwarnear Agar, Chahana, Dewaldhar and Nail.Occurrences of magnesite have also beenreported from Jhiroli, Pagankhol, Ariapani,Bhurgaon, Changdog, Boragar, Gahar Rithait,Satislang, Phadiari Jakhera, Tachhiri, TangaDurai, Salia, Rafalkhet and Chamagaon, allsituated in Chamoli district.

Kyanite :

It is a member of the aluminium-silicategroup of minerals which includes andalusite,sillimanie and kyanite—all refractory minerals.They are all metamorphic minerals. India hasthe richest deposits of kyanite in the world.Important deposits of kyanite occur in theSinghbhum district of Jharkhand along a belt 80miles in length, stretching east along the westernpart of Seraikela through parts of northernSinghbhum and Kharasawan and intoDhalbhum. The Lapsa Buru kyanite deposits, thelargest kyanite deposits in the world, are situatedin this belt.

In Maharashtra large deposits occur inBhandara district in Pipalgaon-Dahegaon-Padriarea where the estimated reserves are about 100million tonnes.

In Karnataka it occurs in Hassan, Mysoreand Chitradurg districts. TIF importantproducers are Kudinirkatte, Dodderi, Kamasa-Mudram, Melkoppa and Kadmane localities, etc.

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Some pockets of kyanite also occur in Ajmer,Bhilwara, Dungarpura and Banswara districtsof Rajasthan, in Darjeeling and Purulia districts(West Bengal), Mahasu district (HimachalPradesh), Coimbatore district (Tamil Nadu) andMahendragarh district (Haryana).

Graphite:

Graphite (also black lead or plumbago) iscomposed of mainly carbon. It has impurities—silica and silicates—as well. It occurs along withmetamorphic rocks which abound in garnets andsillimanite. Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Biharhave good deposits.

In Andhra Pradesh deposits aroundPeddanakonda have a fixed carbon content of40 to 65 per cent. Important areas include eastGodavari and west Godavari districts (areas likeRampa Chodavaram, Reddi Bodiar andHaripuram), Krishna district, Khamamet district,Visakhapatnam, Guntur, Buderu andSrikakulam.

In Orissa, graphite deposits of 55-60 per centcarbon occur at Babupali, Dengsurgi, Biliangora,Bughmunda, Komna and other parts ofKalahandi district; Titilagarh, Darpagarh,Munbahal, Belagaon, Patnagarh and other areasof Bolangir district; near Sargipalli, Padampurand Rampur in Sambalpur district; Majikelamarugali, Karrigudda and other parts of Koraput;and in Phulbani district.

In Jharkhand, deposits with a carbon contentof about 50 per cent occur around Rajhara andKhandih.

In Tamil Nadu, graphite reserves are locatedin Tirunelveli district, Madurai district,Arumanallur, Todagamalai andKandawawamipuram in Kanyakumari districtand near Poovandi, Arsanur and Kirnur inRamanathapuram.

In Karnataka, deposits occur inChikbanavur, Arsikere and Holavanballi areasand in the Kolar belt in Bangarpet.

Gypsum:

It is a hydrated calcium sulphate which isusually found in beds or banks in thesedimentary rocks such as limestones,sandstones and shales.

The most important sources of gypsum arelocated in the state of Rajasthan and are confined

to the Tertiary rock formations in the Jodhpurregion. Beds of gypsum half-to-two metres thickoccur at several places around the great Indiandesert of Rajasthan, particularly in the districtsof Bikaner, Jodhpur, Barmar, Churu, Nagaur,Pali, Jaisalmer and Shri Ganganagar.

Important deposits of gypsum are found inTamil Nadu in Coimbatore near Annuppapatti,Andiyur, Venkatapuram, Pusaripatti, etc.,where the percentage grade is 88 to 92 per cent.In Tiruchirapalli district, gypsum occurs as thinirregular veins in the clays and limestones of theUttatur and Trichinopoly stages of theCreataceous system.

In Uttaranchal, gypsum occurs in severallocalities as at Lachmanijhula, around KharariChatti, Sera Narendranagar and Gughthani inGarhwal district and near Dhapila, Bhatta,Khalagaon, Sahashradhara, Nainital posits havebeen reported near Gonti and Parsua in Jhansidistrict of Uttar Pradesh and near Purune inHamirpur district of Himachal Pradesh.

In the district of Barmula and Doda of Jammuand Kashmir, rich deposits occur as lenticularbands in the Precambrian Salakhal schists orwith nummulitic lime stones of Eocene age.

In Himachal Pradesh, deposits associatedwith known limestone and dolomite and alsowith the Subathu series have been reported fromChamba, Mahasu and Sirmur districts.

In Gujarat, gypsum occurs in the Saurashtraarea especially in Halar and districts ofBhavanagar, Gohilwad, Jamnagar, Jungadh andKutch covering an area of 518sq km. Importantoccurrences are in Jamnagar district at RanaVirpur and Bhatis.

Thorium:

Thorium minerals consists of thorianite(38-8) per cent of thorium), allanite (3 per cent ofthorium) and monazite (up to 18 per cent ofthorium).

In India thorium minerals are found mostlyin Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand,Rajasthan, Orissa and Kerala.

India possesses the greatest reserves ofmonazite known in the world. The monazitereserves of Kerala have been estimated at 2.5million tonnes from which 1.5 lakh tonnes ofthorium are available.

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Beryllium: Beryllium is obtained from beryl,which is found in association with felspar andmica in pegmatities. It occurs in Rajasthan,Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Sikkim andKashmir. Beryllium is very useful as a moderatorin atomic reactors.

Norms Related To Trade in Mineral

To the extent that mineral resources may betraded is covered by the obligations containedin the WTO agreements relating to trade ingoods. WTO rules generally do not regulatenatural resources before they are extracted orharvested.

WTO rules related to Mineral trade:

• Article I of the GATT sets out the most-favoured-nation principle, one of thefundamental obligations of the multilateraltrading system. This provision prohibits aWTO member from treating the productsoriginating in or destined for anothermember less favourably than the “like”products originating in or destined for anyother country (including non-WTOmembers). Thus, WTO member A cannotsubject imports of coal from WTO memberB to a higher tariff than imports of coalfrom WTO member C. Export taxes andother export regulations are also subject tothe obligations in Article I, even if suchmeasures are not prohibited under ArticleXI. This means that WTO member A cannotsubject its exports to WTO member B to ahigher export tax than it applies to exportsto WTO member C.

• Article II of the GATT 1994 prohibits WTOmembers from applying “ordinary customsduties” on the importation of a product thatare higher than the rate specified in theirschedules of commitments. Throughsuccessive rounds of trade negotiations, thenumber of products subject to tariff bindingshas increased and the levels at which tariffsare bound have been progressively broughtdown. Members are also prohibited fromapplying any other duties or charges onthe importation of a product, unlessspecified in the schedule of commitments.

• Article XI of the GATT 1994 provides thatno prohibitions or restrictions, other thanduties, taxes or other charges, shall beapplied by any WTO member on theimportation of any product or on the

exportation or sale for export of anyproduct. This provision covers quotas andother similar measures that establishquantitative limitations on imports orexports.

• Article XIII of the GATT states that noprohibition or restriction shall be appliedby any WTO member on the importationof any product of the territory of any othermember or on the exportation of anyproduct destined for the territory of anyother member, unless the importation of thelike product of all third countries or theexportation of the like product to all thirdcountries is similarly prohibited orrestricted.

• In some circumstances, subsidies canexacerbate the over-exploitation of scarcenatural resources. The WTO includesimportant disciplines on the use of subsidiesby WTO members. Subsidies to non-agricultural goods are regulated under theSCM Agreement. The SCM Agreementdefines a “subsidy” as a financialcontribution by a government or any publicbody within the territory of a member thatconfers a benefit. A financial contributionis deemed to exist where (i) a governmentpractice involves a direct transfer of funds;(ii) government revenue that is otherwisedue is foregone; (iii) a government providesgoods or services other than generalinfrastructure; or (iv) a government entrustsor directs a private body to carry out oneor more of the types of functions listed in(i) to (iii). A WTO member that is affectedby subsidies granted by another membercan challenge those subsidies in the WTOdispute settlement mechanism.Alternatively, the affected member canapply countervailing duties to thesubsidized imports if it shows that theycause or threaten to cause injury to itsdomestic industry.

Trade in natural resources can supporteconomic development, as it enables resource-rich countries to export resources and raiserevenues. If done to high environmental andsocial standards, trade can thereby contributeto sustainable development of poor countries.But the current trade system reinforces unequallevels of resource consumption by shiftingresources from poorer low consuming countriesto richer, high consuming countries.

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Industrialised countries in Europe and NorthAmerica, but also in Asia, largely exportmanufactured products with a high value added.Many developing countries, on the other hand,continue to rely strongly on the export of rawmaterials such as agricultural products, mineralsand fossil fuels. Exporting manufacturedproducts usually generates higher profitscompared to export of commodities.Furthermore, environmental pressures related toextraction and processing of resources are high

One of the major challenges that are crucialin the context of relatively backward economiesis that the macroeconomic policies of thesecountries are not always proportionate to utilizethe gains from world trade. International tradecan be beneficial if the gains derived from it canbe distributed evenly across the different layersof the society. Here lies the importance of “trickle-down” effect.

Domestic trade involves exchange of factorsof production at the regional level; whereasinternational trade ensures greater mobility oflatest technology and goods and services acrossthe nations. World trade helps the developingcountries to have ready access to the moderntechniques of production. However, thechallenge here is to use these techniques in anefficient manner. The industrial setup and socialinfrastructure need to be developed as per theglobal standard to optimize the benefits frominternational trade.

There are instances of African nations, whichhave failed to utilize the gains from trade due toinappropriate macroeconomic setups. Beforeopening up the economy, the backward nationsneed to safeguard the interests of the domesticentrepreneurs. The liberalization policies needto be taken up gradually so as to help the infantindustries face the challenges of the changingeconomic scenario.

So the challenges before international trademay arise from different fronts. The countriesinvolved in world trade need to adoptproportionate policy measures to make use ofthe gains from trade for the overall developmentof their economies.

Case study: India launches WTO case against

U.S. steel duties

Countries impose countervailing duties -punitively high import tariffs - when they

suspect another country of gaining an unfairtrade advantage through subsidies. The UnitedStates Commerce Department has set apreliminary import duty of nearly 286 percenton a circular welded carbon-quality steel pipefrom India to offset government subsidies. Indiahad "requested consultations" with the UnitedStates over U.S. countervailing duties.

India claimed that Washington had imposedthe countervailing duty because a portion of theiron ore used to produce the pipes came fromIndia's top iron ore miner NMDC (NMDC.NS),a state-run firm that supplies steelmakers suchas Tata (TISC.NS), Jindal (JNSP.NS) and Essar.But the U.S. argument was that "because NMDCis a public sector undertaking and thereforeimplicitly subsidising a private-sector enterprise.However to counter it, Indian side replied thatIndian iron ore prices were determined by thedomestic market so, there is no subsidy.

Last October the United States sent the WTOa list of 50 Indian government measures that itsaid amounted to unfair subsidies that had notbeen notified, as required by the WTO, andthreatened to slap duties on them if India didnot notify them promptly. Included on the listwere loans from India's Steel Development Fund(SDF), with the 2010-2011 annual report of theIndian Ministry of Steel cited as evidence. Theministry's report said the SDF was providingfinancial assistance for research anddevelopment and 64 projects had been approvedin 2010, at a cost of 4.42 billion Indian rupees,including 2.78 billion rupees from the fund. TheSDF had already paid out 1.39 billion rupees.

US files dispute against India on solar panel

products

The United States, on February 6, 2013,notified the WTO Secretariat of a request forconsultations with India on certain measures ofIndia relating to domestic content requirementsunder the Jawaharlal Nehru National SolarMission (NSM) for solar cells and solar modules. The United States claims that India requires solarpower developers to buy and use domestic solarcells and solar modules in order to benefit fromparticipating in the Jawaharlal Nehru NSMprogramme and to enter into contracts underthe NSM programme or with the National PowerCompany. According to the United States, thebenefits for solar power developers, contingenton their purchase and use of domestic solar cells

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and solar modules, would include subsidiesthrough guaranteed, long-term electricity rates. The request for consultations formally initiatesa dispute in the WTO. Consultations give theparties an opportunity to discuss the matter andto find a satisfactory solution withoutproceeding further with litigation. After 60 days,if consultations have failed to resolve the dispute,the complainant may request adjudication by apanel.

Issue of overconsumption of resources

The amount of natural resources extractedfor the production of goods and services issteadily increasing. Almost half of globalresource extraction takes place in Asia, followedby North America with almost 20% and Europeand Latin America with 13% each. However,large variations exist in natural resourcesextraction per capita: on average, an inhabitantof Australia extracts around 10 times moreresources than inhabitants of Asia or Africa.Increasing resource extraction leads to growingenvironmental and social problems, often worstin poor countries in Africa, Latin America andAsia. In 1980, the world economy extractedalmost 40 billion tonnes. Up to 2005, this numbergrew to 58 billion tonnes, an increase of almost50%.

Resource extraction has increased in all majorcategories: biomass, fossil fuels, metal ores andindustrial and construction minerals. Between1980 and 2005, the extraction of gas, sand andgravel almost doubled, and nickel ore extractiontripled. For some of the biotic resources, such asfish, the signs of overuse can already be observed– catch rates have been declining over the past10 years.

The extraction and processing of naturalresources is often very intensive in the use ofmaterials, energy, water and land. Theseactivities therefore often entail environmentalproblems, such as the destruction of fertile land,water shortages or toxic pollution. Socialproblems are also often linked to extractionactivities, including human rights violations,poor working conditions and low wages.

Case study on oil extraction in Nigeria

Shell has been operating in Nigeria’s Nigerdelta since the 1930s. Nigeria is now ademocracy, but has a long and brutal history ofmilitary dictatorships. The Niger delta was once

considered the breadbasket of Nigeria becauseof its rich ecosystems, a place where peoplecultivated fertile farmlands and benefitted fromabundant fisheries. In the southern part of thedelta lies Ogoniland, where half a million Ogonipeople live.

Nigeria is the largest oil producer in africaand 11thlargest in the world. In 2004, 17% of allNigerian oilexports - more than two milliontonnes - went to the European Union. Crude oilproduction in 2004 was 2.5 million barrels perday, of which an average of one million barrelsper day were produced by shell, making shellby far the biggest oil company in Nigeria. Thecountry has significant oil reserves and evengreater gas reserves. However, most Nigerianshave not benefited from these resources andNigeria is now one of the poorest countries inthe world.

Shell operates in Nigeria through the shellpetroleum development company, a jointventure between shell and the Nigeriangovernment. SPDC has more than 90 oil and gasfields spread over some 30,000 square kilometresof oil mining leases in the Niger delta. It is amassive operation involving a network of morethan 6,000 kilometres of flow lines and pipelines,seven gas plants, 86 flow stations and otherfacilities. Shell and other oil companies havetransformed the Niger delta into a virtualwasteland, bearing deep scars from gas flaringand oil spills. The population in the Niger deltasuffers from multiple health problems and theland is heavily polluted. Gas flaring has severehealth consequences. Many scientific studieshave linked breathing particulate matter to aseries of significant health problems, includingaggravated asthma, increases in respiratorysymptoms like coughing and difficult or painfulbreathing, chronic bronchitis, decreased lungfunction, and premature death. This is due tothe fact that flaring emits a cocktail of toxicsubstances (including sulphur dioxide, nitrogendioxides), carcinogenic substances (such asbenz[a]pyreneand dioxin) and unburned fuelcomponents (including benzene, toluene, xyleneand hydrogen sulphide).

One example of the environmentalconsequences of gas flaring in the Niger delta isacid rain. Delta residents have long complainedthat their roofs have been corroded by thecomposition of the rain that falls as a result of

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the flaring. The primary causes of acid rain areemissions of sulphur dioxide (sO2) and nitrogenoxides (nOx), which combine with atmosphericmoisture to form sulphuric acid and nitric acid,respectively. Acid rain acidifies lakes and streamsand damages vegetation. In addition, acid rainaccelerates the decay of building materials andpaints. According to the World Bank, emissionsduring flaring are the major source of greenhousegases in Sub-Saharan Africa.

In November 2005, the federal high court ofNigeria ordered shell to immediately stop flaringgas, in iwherekan community, delta state. Thecourt found gas flaring to be a ‘gross violation’of the rights to life and dignity. Nevertheless, shellcontinues the flaring.

There have been major human rights abusesas well. On June 8 2009, shell was forced to payus$15.5 million to settle an embarrassing lawsuitin the US for human rights abuses in Nigeria.The company is also facing legal action in TheHague concerning repeated oil spills which havedamaged the livelihoods of Nigerian fisher folkand farmers.

Issue of denial of property rights to local people

Tribals have paid the highest price ofnational development because their regions areresource rich: 90 percent of all coal and around50 percent of the remaining minerals are in theirregions. Also the forest, water and other sourcesabound in their habitat. But lakhs of tribals havebeen displaced from 1990 onwards (due to theso-called economic liberalization policies of theCenter under pressure from the Westernlenders)without proper rehabilitation.

International conventions adopted by theUnited Nations as well as the InternationalLabour Organisation have recognized the rightsof tribal communities on land and surface andsub-surface resources. Many countries includingCanada, Brazil, South Africa and Australia havebeen forced to at least acknowledge in differentways the rights of indigenous communities onmineral wealth in their respective countries.

But in India, where an overwhelmingmajority of mines are located in adivasi areas,the tribals have not only been denied these rightsbut have been driven out of their lands throughforcible acquisition or denied access. The spiritof the Samatha judgement of the Supreme Courtto recognize tribal ownership rights has been

ignored. The legal requirement under PESAA(Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas Act1996) and the Forest Rights Act for consent ofthe Gram Sabha is blatantly violated. On thecontrary even where the gram Sabha has opposeda particular project, the land is forcibly acquiredas for example in the bauxite rich tribal areas inVishakhapatnam district in Andhra Pradesh andKalahandi in Orissa.

Further the Central Government whilegranting mining leases has fixed extremely lowroyalty rates. The mining companies have madehuge profits. For example the CentralGovernment has recently fixed the royalty foriron ore at just 10 per cent of the value of themined iron ore after supposedly discussing withthe so-called stakeholders, namely the big miningcompanies. Royalty is equally low for other majorminerals.

In the face of growing resistance by tribalcommunities, the Central Government isproposing an amendment to the Mines andMinerals (Development and Regulation Act)2011, to make it mandatory for companies to givefunds for tribal development in districts wherethey have mining leases. The funds are to be putin a District Mineral Foundation Fund which willbe under the control of the administration. Coalcompanies are to give 26 per cent of their profitsto the Fund.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO)- funded report on India's indigenouspopulation also claims that more than half thecountry's mineral wealth is obtained by violatingthe rights of tribals. The report states thatminerals found in adivasi or tribal areasreportedly contribute to more than half of thenational mining production. Yet, mining policiesin India have overlooked the existence of adivasicommunities and the constitutional provision forthe protection of their land and resources.

“There is no mention of adivasis ' rights orprotection in any of the procedures. Though adisaggregated data on the number of minesoperating in the country or the number of peopledisplaced by such projects does not officiallyexist as the information is deemed to be "politically sensitive," the report estimates that anoverwhelming majority of mines are located inthe adivasi areas. In 1991, out of the 4,175 minesin the country, 3,500 were in tribal areas.Another estimate states that between 1950 and

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1991 at least 2,600,000 people were displacedby mining projects of which only 25 per centreceived any resettlement. Among thosedisplaced 52 per cent belonged to the ScheduledTribes, the report notes. In the case of privatelands, proceedings under the Land AcquisitionAct 1894 are initiated in order to acquire theland. The legislation also allows the governmentto acquire lands upon payment of cashcompensation for any public purpose, includingmining. The report is also stridently critical ofJharkhand. The new state, instead of enforcingconstitutional and protective rights of theindigenous communities and restoring theiralienated lands and resources, has signed over100 memorandums of understanding with theprivate industry.

Further the economic liberalization,privatization and globalization (LPG) model ofdevelopment in India is virtually depriving thetribal people and other agriculture dependentpoor people of their traditional means ofsustainable livelihood by promoting theunregulated growth of mineral-based industriesin the tribal regions of India. In the name ofmodernization and the country’s economicdevelopment, the elites in India are taking overthe life sustaining resources of the poor andpushing them into a further marginalized stateof living as a result of displacing them from theirland and homes. Such development serves theinterests of these elites while it impoverishes thetribal people and poor peasants in these regionswho are dependent on the life sustainingresources of the ecosystems in which they live.The mining and other industries that are takingover the resources of the ecosystems of these tribalpeople and poor peasants fail to provide themwith an improved and sustainable means ofmaking a living. The very nature of the presentdevelopment paradigm does not provide for theabsorption of these poor people into theorganized non-farm sector economy.

Case Study of Impact of Development Project

on Displaced Tribals in Orissa

Orissa’s coal deposits are mostly concentratedin two regions - Talcher Belt in Angul Districtand the lb Valley Area in Jharsuguda Districtand in the State and mining is carried out by theMahanadi Coal Fields Limited (MCL), asubsidiary of Coal India Limited (CIL). The lbValley Project has affected 19 villages involving

a total number of 1306 families. A total of 90families were displaced (homestead oustees), whowere resettled in Madhuban Nagar. Of them 52belonged to Scheduled Tribes, 2 to ScheduledCastes and 36 belonged to other castes.

On the basis of the empirical studyconducted on the displaced families of lb ValleyCoal Mines, the following are some of theimportant impacts that have been revealed fromthe analysis of data by the researcher:

• The general socio-economic condition of theoustees has deteriorated significantly.

• Socio-economic inequalities have widened.

• The cropping pattern has changeddrastically

• Dependence on trees and livestock hasreduced substantially.

• Increase in the proportion of agriculturallabourers.

• Increasing trend towards nuclear family.

• Poor dwelling conditions of the oustees.

• Improper use of compensation money

• Rise in the incidence of indebtedness.

• Drastic reduction in the socio-economiccondition of women.

Issues relate to development and exploitation

of mineral resources:

Mining, world over, has now become animportant input in the economic development amineral rich country. In addition to the generalvalue-adding benefits of mining, a quality whichit shares with many other businesses, mining hassome special qualities which enable it to serve asa springboard for countries seeking toindustrialise. Mining is at the beginning of thevalue chain and has a capacity to kick starteconomic development that few other businessesoffer. It does not require a sophisticated supplychain in the country in which it takes place, asmanufacturing so often does, and it does notrequire developed local markets.

Also, minerals are indispensable whenproducing manufactured goods of all kinds andin providing most services, even at a basic level.Furthermore, all ‘renewable’ forms of energygeneration, including solar, wind, bio-energy,and forestry and agricultural production, are

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ultimately dependent on utilizing minerals andmetals in some form.

Off late two very significant developmentsare occurring in the mining industry and relatedgovernment resource programs worldwide. Oneis positive, the other problematic. Workingtogether, these two trends have the potential tochange dramatically the way in which mineralresource companies, the Governments ofresource-based economies, and indeed the worldfunction in the 21st century.

The first trend is the greatly expandinginternational opportunities for mineral resourcedevelopment. On the supply side, industrialdevelopment in general and mining in particularhave been accelerated by a number of factors,including the end of the Cold War, the emergenceof new market economies in Asia, Latin America,Africa and Eastern Europe, the move towardprivatization of state mining assets, andincreasing fiscal liberalization in developing andemerging economies.

On the demand side, consumption of themajority of minerals continues to increase,particularly in developing countries andemerging economies. The second trend, however,consists of the growing challenges to miningdevelopment, production, and products.Mining, by its very nature, causes significantenvironmental, social, cultural and economicdisruption. As it has expanded globallyparticularly in the resource based economies ofmany developing countries - internationalawareness and concern about its negative effectshas heightened, and this heightened concern isfueling a significant increase in both nationaland international laws regulating mining.

To maintain equilibrium sustainabledevelopment gained wide credibility as the centrepiece of the 1987 report of the United NationsWorld Commission on Environment andDevelopment

For development in general, sustainabilitymandates three things: preservation of optionsfor future generations, nurturing of social andcommunity stability, and maintenance andrestoration of environmental quality. For miningin particular, this requires poverty alleviation,meeting of basic human needs, environmentalimpact assessment, pollution abatement,minimization of environmental impact, resourceconservation, adequate worker health and safety

standards, community betterment, andprotection and restoration of the environment.

In short, the concept of sustainabledevelopment requires a complete paradigmaticshift in national and international thinking,because making economic and ecologicalconcerns work together is its controllingobjective. To have sustainability, nations,industries, companies and individuals can nolonger seek merely to maximize material gainsbut must maximize the nonmaterial quality oflife, can no longer rely on technology to makepossible infinite development and populationgrowth, and can no longer maximize present-generation benefits at the expense of futuregenerations' well-being.

Issue related to corporate corruption

Governments are dependent upon individualofficials and ministers to negotiate deals.Companies can gain immensely by bribing theseindividuals. This gives rise to an ‘agencyproblem’ for LDCs. While widely recognised, todate it has been addressed by a variety of ad hocinternational initiatives.

One such is the Extractive IndustriesTransparency Initiative, started in 2003 and nowwith over thirty signatories among thegovernments of resource-rich countries,indicating recognition of concern for theproblem. It aims to counter corruption incontracts by requiring companies engaged inresource extraction to report all their payments,country-by-country, forcing illicit payments intothe open.

Another initiative has been the pan-OECDanti-bribery legislation which has made it acriminal offence for an OECD-based companyto bribe government officials anywhere in theworld in order to win a contract. Oneconsequence of this OECD legislation has beenthe rapid emergence of a two-stage system ofnegotiations for the rights to resource extraction.In the first stage a company which is either toosmall to face scrutiny, or not OECD-based,negotiates with government. In the second stage,this company onsells the rights to a major OECDcompany that has the technology and financeto undertake exploitation.

A third and related international initiativehas been to co-ordinate the laws relating tomoney laundering.

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A fourth initiative has been the KimberleyProcess which has curtailed illegal internationaltransactions in diamonds through certificationof the source of origin. The Government ofNigeria has recently proposed that an equivalentsystem of certification be put into place to curtailthe large-scale theft of crude oil from the NigerDelta. The latest initiative is the Lugar-CardinAmendment, now enacted into US law,whereby all companies listed on the New Yorkstock market engaged in resource extractionmust report all payments made associated withcontracts in considerable detail. Potentially, suchlegislation could so discourage the majorcompanies from entering into prospectingcontracts with the governments of LDCs that theonly companies left as partners for governmentswould be cowboy operations.

But it is not a matter of adopting newstandards, but simply of enforcing standardswhich are already incorporated into legalsystems globally.

Issue related to nexus between government and

private sector:

In India, ownership of minerals lies with theState. However, the Central government whichhas control over all major minerals like iron ore,bauxite, copper, coal and most Stategovernments which have control over minorminerals like sand, stone, granite, etc., havepromoted privatisation through leasing mines toprivate companies apart from handing overcaptive mines of iron ore and bauxite to steel andaluminium corporates like the Tatas and Birlas.According to a recent report compiled for theindustry by Ernst and Young, of the 4.9 lakhhectares of land given out in mining leases in 23States by the end of 2009, 95 per cent of the leasescomprising 70 per cent of the land were given toprivate companies.

The MMRDA Bill aims to further deregulariseand liberalise the mining sector and encourageprivatisation based on the recommendations ofthe Hoda Committee. It introduces the conceptof high technology reconnaissance, prospectingand exploration licences, and easy terms ofconversion to mining leases to encourage theentry of FDI and foreign companies. It also givesweightage, in the allocation of leases, to a set ofcriteria which favour such companies and also

allows them activity on much larger tracts of landthan previously. This has adverse implicationsfor equity, the environment and growth.

The Bill also gives legal sanction to thearbitrary rights of governments, both at theCentre and the States, to give different types oflicences and leases from reconnaissance toexploration, prospecting and finally extractionwithout any procedure for even consulting, leavealone taking the consent of tribal communities.The only reference to “consultation” (notconsent), is for the grant of licences for minorminerals (but not major) in Fifth and SixthSchedule areas where “the gram sabha or theDistrict council, as the case may be shall beconsulted.” Thus even the provisions under otherlaws such as the Panchayat Extension (toSchedule Areas) Act (PESAA), which mandatesconsultation with the gram sabhas, are violatedby the complete absence of any consultativeprocess prior to the granting of lease for majorminerals, which are the main sites of tribaldeprivation. In another provision for notificationof giving leases in forest areas and wildlife areas,the State government has to “take all necessarypermissions from the owners of the land andthose having occupation rights.” Thus anunwarranted differentiation is made betweenthe rights of tribal communities in Fifth Schedulenon-forest areas and forest areas. However evenin the case of forest areas there is no provisionfor what would happen in case the owner doesnot give permission.

Issue related to mineral exploitation and

women sufferings

The displacement of people due to mininghas only multiplied the exploitation anddegradation of women’s rights with regard toland and livelihoods. Historically and also in theexisting legal framework, women have no legalrights over lands or natural resources. There isan invisible distinction between rural and tribalwomen with regard to control over lands intraditional land based situations in mainstreamIndia. Tribal women enjoy a greater social statuswith regard to control over resources. Thisensures their active participation and decision-making with regard to land utilization,agriculture and powers over cash flow in a tribaleconomy. This is enjoyed to a lesser extent byrural women in India. Yet, they have a distinctrole in the agrarian society with regard to

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participation in agricultural work, livestockmanagement, and access to common properties.

However, both rural and tribal women arecompletely alienated from these accesses andrights when the mines come. Testimonies ofwomen from coal mining areas of Orissa(Talcher) show that displacement and loss ofland were the most serious problems affectingtheir lives, as their link to livelihood, economicand social status, health and security alldepended on land and forests.

Whenever villages have been displaced oraffected, women have been forced out of theirland based work and pushed into menial andmarginalised forms of labour as maids andservants, as construction labourers or intoprostitution, which are highly unorganised andsocially humiliating.

Women displaced by mining, have lost therights to cultivate their traditional crops, andforests being cut down for mining, they areunable to collect forest produce for consumption(food, fodder, medicines or ceremonial needs) orfor sale. The cash flow that tribal and ruralwomen have access to, by sale of forest produceand by breeding livestock, has disappeared. Theyare forced to walk miles away from their villagesleaving behind their children, either to collectforest produce or find wage labour and have hadto sell away all their cattle. In many situationsthere is seasonal migration leading to workinsecurity, breaking up of family relations andexposing them to various social hazards.

To curb the social and cultural impact ofmining local communities are organizing protestsagainst the government and companies.

Frequent public health problems related tomining activities include:

• Water: Surface and ground watercontamination with metals and elements;microbiological contamination from sewageand wastes in campsites and mine workerresidential areas;

• Air: Exposure to high concentrations ofsulfur dioxide, particulate matter, heavymetals, including lead, mercury andcadmium; and

• Soil: Deposition of toxic elements from airemissions.

Mining activities can suddenly affect qualityof life and the physical, mental, and social well-being of local communities. Improvised miningtowns and camps often threaten food availabilityand safety, increasing the risk ofmalnourishment. Indirect effects of mining onpublic health can include increased incidence oftuberculosis, asthma, chronic bronchitis, andgastrointestinal diseases.

Issues related to Mining and Environment

Environmental impacts of mining and mineral

processing includes:

1. Surface water pollution

• Soluble contaminants in domestic oragricultural use waters from release of mineand processing water or leakage from wastedeposits

• Deposition of solids on agricultural land andin shallow sea zones

• Withdrawal of water for industrial purposes

• Alteration of aquatic flora and fauna,including\ destruction of fish species andaccumulation of toxic elements in fish

• Sand deposition in river channels andshallow sea zones

2. Underground water pollution

Soluble contaminants in wells, springs etc.resulting from leakage from waste heaps andmine water

Natural water sources drying up as aconsequence of water table lowering

3. Air pollution

• Dust blown on inhabited, agricultural lands

• Accumulation in plants of toxic elementscarried by dust

• Acidification of water bodies and soilresulting from SO emissions 2

• Damage to buildings from SO emissions 2

4. Solid waste

• Hazards related to lack of stability of wastedeposits

• Land disturbance

• Withdrawal of agricultural land

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5. Excavation

• Loss of fauna and flora habitats.

• Land subsidence due to undergroundmining.

Methods for reducing the environmentalimpact of mining and metallurgical operationshave improved considerably over the last coupleof decades. At the mining stage, methods forrehabilitating mined-out areas to the original ornew land uses have been developed and areapplied in most new mining projects. Similarly,releases of effluents to surface water bodies orto groundwater are controlled and reducedthrough judicious planning at the very beginningof mining projects.

There are several reasons for the change inattitudes. The most important may be thepressure of public opinion. Second,conditionalities aimed at ensuring goodenvironmental practices are increasingly beingrequired by international financial institutionsand by commercial banks. Third, environmentalcontrol measures in new projects usually do notentail major cost increases and may evenimprove production economies.

Most governments have made the "PolluterPays Principle" (PPP) an integral part of theirenvironmental policies. According to thisprinciple "the polluter should bear the expensesof carrying out pollution prevention and controlmeasures decided by public authorities to ensurethat the environment is in an acceptable state.In other words, the cost of these measures shouldbe reflected in the cost of goods and serviceswhich cause pollution in production and/orconsumption". The PPP aims to improveeconomic efficiency.

There are some examples of economicinstruments not directly aimed at internalizingenvironmental costs but rather at promotingpollution control measures. These include taxincentives such as accelerated depreciation forpollution control equipment. While theseinstruments are likely to contribute to reductionsin pollution, they are not very cost-effective fromthe government's point of view. Furthermore,they may provide an incentive to companies toinvest in "end-of-pipe" technology, that is, to treatemissions rather than to prevent pollution fromoccurring in the first place through appropriate

process design. The latter would be preferablefrom the point of view of maximizing pollutionreduction in relation to cost, but would provideno tax advantage.

Case study of Gobi Desert

• Gobi Desert

This resource – thought to be the biggestdeposit of coking coal on the planet – is chewedout and transported away to China by aseemingly endless line of trucks that rumbleacross the plains in a convoy of dust. Untilrecently, this area of southern Mongolia was oneof the world's last great wildernesses – a colddesert that is home to gazelle, wild ass andherders living a traditional nomadic existence.

Today, however, it is the centre of the planet'sgreatest resource boom. Some are calling it "thelast frontier", others "Minegolia". Whatever thename, this impoverished but remarkable nationin east Asia is on the brink of one of the mostdramatic transformations in human history.

The vast opencast pit at Tevan Tolgoi is justthe start. Its 6bn tonnes of coal are being partlydeveloped by a local mining firm. Extractionrights will also be auctioned off to overseasbidders, likely to include China's Shenhua,Peabody of the US and a Russian consortium.Whoever does the digging, the ultimate buyer ofthe fuel is likely to be China, which accounts for85% of Mongolia's exports. The extraction isexpected to triple the national economy by 2020and propel the living standards of the small,impoverished 2.6 million population into theglobal middle class, but locals fear it will alsodevastate an arid environment as the mines suckup scarce water resources, damage thegrasslands and necessitate roads and electricitygrids that disrupt the migration patterns of localspecies.

The damage is already evident in the cross-Gobi traffic, where drivers churn up so muchdust that some use their headlights in the middleof the day to pierce the gloom.

Nomad families in the area blame the minesfor dried up wells, shrinking watering holes andclouds of dust that blacken the lungs andstomachs of their animals.

Two-thirds of the state's HumanDevelopment Fund – which has come frommining revenues – has been spent on monthly

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cash payments to the population to secureelectoral votes. Environmental worries also loomlarge, particularly with regard to water usagerights.

The mines are good for Mongolia, but badfor residents of the southern Gobi. "They taketoo much water. There is not enough left so theherders have to move or sell their animals."

The operators of Oyu Tolgoi acknowledgethey have taken surface water until now, which

has made them a competitor with the nomadsfor scarce resources. But from next year, the minewill extract and treat saline water from a fossilaquifer 45km away. Operators say this is notlinked to any lakes or watering holes.

Rio Tinto has pledged to set the highestinternational standards in minimising the impacton the environment. They plan to build anasphalt road to reduce dust, with underpassesfor migrating animals. They have also promisedto recycle much of their water.

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